The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)

by Dan Brown

WHAT WAS LOST WILL BE FOUND...Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object - gruesomely encoded with five symbols - is discovered at the epicentre of the Rotunda. It is, he recognises, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom. When Langdon's revered mentor, Peter Solomon - philanthropist and prominent mason - is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America's most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.
A brilliantly composed tapestry of veiled histories, arcane icons and enigmatic codes, The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced thriller that offers surprises at every turn. For, as Robert Langdon will discover, there is nothing more extraordinary or shocking than the secret which hides in plain sight...

• ISBN10: 0385533136
• ISBN13: 9780385533133
• Publish Date: 15 September 2009 (first published 1 January 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Anchor Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 481
• Language: English

Reviews

[Veronica 🦦]

C+ | Although Dan Brown’s first two Robert Langdon books are some of my favorite books of all time and what started my love for mystery/thriller books, The Lost Symbol just fell flat. Story was dragged out and pretty predictable. It’s repetitive and honestly, I felt like I could have skipped sections of the book and not missed a thing. While I enjoyed it enough, there was a point I was just bored. I had to force myself to listen to the rest of the audiobook because I was already 70% of the way into the book. And like I said in my GR updates, I totally expected that twist. Plus the ending was a disappointment.

[angelarenea9]

I really enjoyed the first of the Robert Langdon books Demons and Angels, and thought it was excellent, and The Da Vinci Code was pretty good, but this book struck me as boring and repetitive. It was too focused on Langdon's 'attractiveness'and his ignorance of it, explaining why hi is now on romance number three in as many books, and the overdone stretch that was the plot. I finished it and thought, 'Well, 2/3, not bad' and ended the series with an overall opinion that it was good, but imagine my surprise when I realized that there was, in fact, going to be another book. The series should have ended with The Da Vinci Code, I will not be continuing the series.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I love the roller coaster ride Dan Brown takes you on, as he brings his conspiracies to life.

[empressbrooke]

Ah yes, the new Dan Brown book, the most anticipated title in the publishing world this year. The one that everyone is loving to hate, because there's no better way to prove your superiority to your peers by talking about how you're just too intelligent to enjoy this crap because you're so much better than the unwashed masses. For the record, I have dated two guys who have rattled off that bit of idiocy. Two! It's almost cruel (and for the record, they were really not all that).

But more importantly, the book. If I lived on a desert island and someone handed this to me and told me that it had single-handedly saved the publishing industry during this current economic downturn, would I have believed them? Probably not. It's like The DaVinci Code set in DC, and therein lies the problem. Brown is a bit like M. Night Shyamalan, where his popularity was established by That One Thing He Did Well, except until he seemingly felt obligated to repeat it several times even when, creatively speaking, he'd probably write something more interesting if he allowed himself to do something different.

Or, maybe he's more comparable to my beloved Preston/Child writing duo, who have locked themselves into only writing books about a fan-favorite character even though, again, some variety might rejuvenate them.

Angels & Demons, the first Robert Langdon book, remains the high point in the series. At that point in time, Brown understood pacing. He understood how to move the story forward with exciting action while at the same time educating us about everything he had found in his research. It felt like a story. The DaVinci code lost a little of that and became more about the research and information, which led to my puzzlement over it being turned into a movie before A&D. And now, The Lost Symbol has completed the journey to the "all information, no story" side of the spectrum. It took me a week out of the 2 weeks the library is permitting me to have this book to get more than 150 pages in. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking one word: "INFODUMP."

It's like Brown felt a bit of pressure to make sure he told us as much information as he could vomit up. Sure, the Freemasons are a pretty good choice for a secret-filled topic, and the National Treasure movies certainly showed us that DC is full of the symbols that Brown and Langdon specialize in. But it's not balanced, and to back up this opinion, I present the fact that it takes nearly 150 pages to move the action forward from the initial, "Oh my god, there is a severed hand in the middle of the Capitol's rotunda." Trust me, if I found a severed hand, I would not be standing still for 150 pages.

It was still interesting and a little fun, and the latter half of the book went a lot faster than the first half, and even though the plot twist at the end was predictable, I give Brown props for finally having a villain who ISN'T the mentor/person of authority. I also liked the throwback to A&D's discussion about science vs. religion and how they're entwined rather than opposing schools of thought.

My advice to Brown now that he's done his duty and saved the publishing industry from the poorhouse - write something different. I know, your publisher would throw a total shitfit if you said you were retiring Mr. Langdon. You stopped being a person whose creativity is important back when The DaVinci Code hit the top of the best seller's list. You're a moneymaker, plain and simple, and they're gonna milk you until you're dry. I hope you get to write what you want next, and that it's not about symbols. It was fun learning about the NSA in Digital Fortress (you know, back before 9/11 and the Patriot Act made the agency a household name).

[Eve1972]

I wish you could give half stars because this really deserves another half star. Dan Brown's Langdon series is one of my all time favorite series. I always feel like I have been taken on a fast paced ride, but also learned a thing or two along the way. This third installment of the series is good, really good, though not quite up there with Angels and Demons, which in my opinion is the best book in the series. I suspect if you are a fan, then you will find yourself enjoying The Lost Symbol. Fingers crossed it doesn't take another 6 years before we see a fourth book...hint hint Mr. Brown. ;D

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

By the time The Lost Symbol was released, I was an avid fan of Dan Brown. I had its release date marked on my calendar for months. For some reason, I just didn't enjoy this installment quite as much as the previous two. Maybe it was because so much time had passed between my successive reading of installments #1 & 2. I guess I was expecting it to be sort of like the movie National Treasure, but better. It turned out that I wasn't as captivated by the Freemason storyline as I should've been in order to fully enjoy the story. However, it's still a good installment to the series and I can definitely see how someone more interested in the Freemasons and Founding Fathers would love this. It just wasn't my favorite.